Changes

There is one direction we care about when discussing motor retention, the y direction (axially). Simply put, the job of a motor retainer is to keep your motor from falling out of your rocket or allowing it to shoot through the nosecone upon ignition, resulting in a cato. Depending on the company, motor retainers have a couple different ways they work. For the slimline retainers used in the SSI Firestorm kit, the motor retainers use retaining rings. These rings are removable and are located on the lip of the the retainer. The purpose of the rings are to keep the motor from sliding out of the bottom while a lip on the body of the retainer prevents the motor from launching through the rocket's nosecone. For any 38mm motor being used in the 58mm Firestorm airframe, a motor adaptor is going to be used which has identical retaining rings, except smaller in diameter, to the motor retainer.

There is one direction we care about when discussing motor retention, the y direction (axially). Simply put, the job of a motor retainer is to keep your motor from falling out of your rocket or allowing it to shoot through the nosecone upon ignition, resulting in a cato. Depending on the company, motor retainers have a couple different ways they work. For the slimline retainers used in the SSI Firestorm kit, the motor retainers use retaining rings. These rings are removable and are located on the lip of the the retainer. The purpose of the rings are to keep the motor from sliding out of the bottom while a lip on the body of the retainer prevents the motor from launching through the rocket's nosecone. For any 38mm motor being used in the 58mm Firestorm airframe, a motor adaptor is going to be used which has identical retaining rings, except smaller in diameter, to the motor retainer.

You can purchase/make motor adaptors which allow you to have a motor of a diameter that is smaller than the diameter of your rocket. For example: If one wanted to launch an L1 with a 54mm H motor but his or her rocket had an ID of 98mm, that person would purchase/make a motor adapter to keep the motor stable and restrained. Motor adapters consist of a tube that has the same ID as the motor's OD and uses centering rings to keep the motor centered between the airframe walls. If you are planning on using various diameter motors for the same airframe it might be a wise choice to invest in a motor retention system that allows the user to buy various components designed to work with different sized motors.

You can purchase/make motor adaptors which allow you to have a motor of a diameter that is smaller than the diameter of your rocket. For example: If one wanted to launch an L1 with a 54mm H motor but his or her rocket had an ID of 98mm, that person would purchase/make a motor adapter to keep the motor stable and restrained. Motor adapters consist of a tube that has the same ID as the motor's OD and uses centering rings to keep the motor centered between the airframe walls. If you are planning on using various diameter motors for the same airframe it might be a wise choice to invest in a motor retention system that allows the user to buy various components designed to work with different sized motors.

== Failure ==

== Failure ==

There is a fantastic NAR case study, "Launching Safely in the 21st Century", written by the Special Committee on Range Operation and Procedure which goes into rigorous statistical analysis of rocket failures. The following categories are common failure modes recorded from the fight log database of the Minnesota Amateur Spacemodeler Association (MASA, NAR 576):

There is a fantastic NAR case study, "Launching Safely in the 21st Century", written by the Special Committee on Range Operation and Procedure which goes into rigorous statistical analysis of rocket failures. The following categories are common failure modes recorded from the fight log database of the Minnesota Amateur Spacemodeler Association (MASA, NAR 576):

LCO described the result as "No chute", it was potentially unsafe.

LCO described the result as "No chute", it was potentially unsafe.

 

These would be called "recordable incidents" in the jargon of safety professionals. When more than one failure occurred during a flight (e.g., unstable flight leading to lawn dart), the most severe event was recorded.

These would be called "recordable incidents" in the jargon of safety professionals.  

When more than one failure occurred during a flight (e.g., unstable flight leading to lawn dart), the

most severe event was recorded.

== Motor Specs ==

== Motor Specs ==